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Let him go. New England has dealt with players this way for a long time. There is a certain Moneyball approach that can be taken in situations like this. Especially in the Hard Cap NFL, where most teams spend close to the same amount of money, yet some teams finish 2-14, while other win 10+ games every year. It can't JUST be coaching or injury problems. At some level, it must boil down to massively overpaying players. Even if they perform at an elite level, they can still be over paid. Baseball's value over replacement player or VORP is an excellent method of evaluation in the NFL as well. Bottom line, Jake does not score TD's, and he does not produce TDs at an exponential rate versus any possible replacement. He can be lost at no extreme cost to the team on the field.

Contending is for people who are ok with losing. I do not want to contend, I want to dominate.

"Because they wouldn't let me go for 3".
Woody Hayes describing why he went for 2, late in a game with Michigan while up 40 points.

bring the pitch forks back out if he tags jake long...also watch out for a bad contract here...i could see a bad # here...

Anything Jake signs has to have injury riders involved unless he is willing to take a discounted contract. It has to be fair to both sides in this case, Long cannot come out saying he wants to be paid as the top LT in the league but he can say, I'll take a discount in year one because of my injuries but I want escalators if I hit certain milestones during the season.

I actually think that's a fair deal to both parties, it limits the liability to the team and gives Jake the chance to get paid as a top LT if he performs like one after his injury.

A source tells the Miami Herald the Dolphins made a "low-ball attempt" to lock-up impending free agent LT Jake Long during the season.

The Dolphins have sent mixed signals on the former No. 1 pick, but it's clear they're not going to sign him to a deal his pre-injury reputation would have commanded. That could be a problem, as a team source tells the Herald Long "likes the idea of being the best at what he does and one way he proves to everyone that he is is by being the highest paid at what he does." According to the source, there's a "considerable amount of professional ego." With neither side sounding willing to negotiate on the other's terms, it's looking more likely Long will walk.- Rotoworld

Look if Ierland wants to keep his job he shouldnt over pay this bum and let him walk.

Pay the man and move on to our next priority of needs. This Long Gone nonsense, I can't wait until we re-sign him to inwardly lmfao at nonsense. Trying to create another need when you got yourself a top LT is madness. Please Ireland pay the man already and get on to the other guys.

Let him go. New England has dealt with players this way for a long time. There is a certain Moneyball approach that can be taken in situations like this. Especially in the Hard Cap NFL, where most teams spend close to the same amount of money, yet some teams finish 2-14, while other win 10+ games every year. It can't JUST be coaching or injury problems. At some level, it must boil down to massively overpaying players. Even if they perform at an elite level, they can still be over paid. Baseball's value over replacement player or VORP is an excellent method of evaluation in the NFL as well. Bottom line, Jake does not score TD's, and he does not produce TDs at an exponential rate versus any possible replacement. He can be lost at no extreme cost to the team on the field.

On the bright side Jake Long scored just 12 points less than Hartline and Bess combined

Can't wrap my head around guys wanting to cap jake longs number at $8 million per. I'm guessig it will be closer to $10mil per, and I cant' say that I would rather let him walk than give him the extra $2 mil a year. The alternative is, moving martin over to left tackle where he has shown to be a weakling, and was known to be weak physically when we drafted him, and thus draft a RT in the upcoming draft and hope he is solid. OR, drafting a left tackle with a high round pick instead of drafting a keenan allen, desmond trufant, quinton patton, cordarelle patterson, terry hawthorne, barkevious mingo... you name it...

personally, I think ireland will drive a hard bargain for a team friendly deal with long. I wouldn't venture a guess that it will be heavily incentive laden, but I would imagine it has some escalators in it, that will be geared towards games played and some sort of statistical verbage in regards to how his play affects the qb's play.

I dont' buy all the BS about long not fitting the scheme either. If the ****ing guy didn't fit the scheme, and our coach and gm still want him here, than we have more issues than I have time to talk about.
Please don't come back at me with some scenario where only ireland wants jake back and not philbin... these guys are obviously on the same page, so to try and tell me that ireand and philbin are on the same page with the senior bowl, combine, college scouting talent...etc etc... but cant agree on whether jake long fits the scheme or not, is beyond asinine IMO.

my hunch... jake long will be a miami dolphin in 2014... whether or not I agree with that, I guess depend on what the numbers are when they come out.

Pay the man and move on to our next priority of needs. This Long Gone nonsense, I can't wait until we re-sign him to inwardly lmfao at nonsense. Trying to create another need when you got yourself a top LT is madness. Please Ireland pay the man already and get on to the other guys.

This story reads like a plant from the Dolphins' PR department... a negotiating ploy to make Long and his representatives realize the Dolphins are ready to move on. Everyone knows Jonathan Martin didn't look particularly great at left tackle last year and either way we don't have another tackle besides him, so getting the word out that if need be we're ready to take a tackle -- fan outrage be damned -- is a helpful thing to have in negotiations.

Combine this with the Mando story on how Long isn't a team first guy and only cares about money and it bears all the markings of a heavy handed PR assault to soften the ground in case Long leaves or get him to accept less money if he decides to stay.

Anyway, my chief conclusion from all this is the Dolphins really do want to resign Long if they can. They wouldn't be going through all the trouble otherwise. But the start of free agency really is the deadline on this, imo. If Long gets there he's gone. Somebody will take the chance. Chicago, if I'm betting.